The present invention relates to sports racquets such as tennis racquets, squash racquets, badminton racquets, and racquetball racquets, which include a head portion having an interwoven string bed for hitting the ball.
When a ball impacts the string bed of a sports racquet, the strings elongate such that the string bed deflects. As the ball rebounds off the string bed, most of the energy stored in the string bed is returned to the ball, however the strings continue to vibrate after the ball has left the string bed. Such vibration occurs at a relatively high frequency and is annoying to players.
In order to reduce such string vibration, there have been two approaches. Commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/935,881 discloses a sports racquet with a grommet strip in which the grommet pegs include flat surfaces against which the vibrating strings rub. Such grommet pegs are effective in reducing string vibration without interfering with the ability of the string bed to deflect upon ball impact. The other approach has been to utilize string vibration dampers which can be mounted on the string bed.
Most string vibration dampers are made of a soft, elastomeric material and are either in the form of an elongated strip which weaves between a number of consecutive strings, or in the form of a plug-type device which fits between a pair of adjacent strings. An example of the former type of damper is the Prince Zero Vibe damper, which is disclosed on commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,397. In this device, a thin, flat web connects a pair of doughnut-shaped ends, which include opposed grooves, oriented at 90xc2x0 relative to the longitudinal axis of the web, for receiving a pair of adjacent strings. In this manner, each doughnut-shaped end fits between a pair of adjacent strings, with the strings being received in the grooves, and the connecting web weaves into the string bed. An example of the latter type of damper is the Prince Vibra Cap damper, which is an elongated caplet-shaped damper also having opposed, outwardly facing grooves for receiving a pair of adjacent strings.
Such vibration dampers are effective as a means of greatly reducing the vibrations of strings in racquets. However, in the case of these dampers and other known dampers, there is a tendency for the dampers to work themselves loose from the strings during play due to the impact force of the ball. When this occurs, it can be distracting and disrupt the point.
In order to secure the damper better on the string bed, it would be possible to provide holes through the damper, and to direct the strings through such holes such that the damper cannot fall off. However, it would not be possible to mount such a damper after the racquet is strung, or to remove it without also removing the racquet strings. Thus, such a damper would not be a practical replacement for existing string bed dampers which the player can mount or remove at will.
The present invention is a string vibration damper which provides effective damping of a string bed, but at the same time is much more securely mounted on the string bed than known designs.
More particularly, a string vibration damper, for use on a sports racquet having an interwoven string bed, is made of a soft, elastomeric material and comprises a pair of end members connected by a connecting portion. Each end member has a hole therethrough with a hole diameter preferably in the range of 4 mm and 6 mm, and a maximal cross-sectional height xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d preferably in the range of 2 mm and 4 mm. The connecting portion preferably has a length of at least 50 mm, and most preferably at least 100 mm, so as to contact numerous strings. End member is secured to the string bed by being inserted between a pair of crossing strings. The end member is positioned so that the point of intersection of the crossing strings lies within the hole such that the crossing strings remain touching. Because the strings are under tension, the string portions on either side of the hole contort the end member so that the end member are firmly secured in place on the string bed.
For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the drawings accompanying the application.